Voices of Young Europe: Child Helpline International

Abuse and violence against children and young people in Europe has doubled during the economic crisis, according to the latest publication released by Child Helpline International. European child helplines received almost 58 million calls in ten years, with reports of abuse, domestic violence, family break-up and child maintenance conflict doubling in the first three years of the economic crisis and remaining high.

The publication ‘Voices of young Europe’, shows that calls regarding every form of abuse have risen since 2009, totalling 2.1 million in ten years. Children and young people in Europe suffer significant problems with peer relationships (2.8 million contacts), psycho-social mental health issues (2.3 million contacts) and family relationships (1.7 million contacts). They also increasingly contact child helplines about food and basic needs, sexual exploitation, begging and domestic labour.

Voices of Young Europe is the first of six regional publications planned for the 10th anniversary year of Child Helpline International, drawing on data from 126 million contacts with children and young people worldwide.